Oh, those US border patrol agents

Ok, so I'm a little late in writing the final installment for the trip to Tucson. But here we go.


After leaving Chihuahua, staying at the ultra cool Encore Ramada Hotel, it was a long, long drive to Tucson. Just after sunrise, we headed north on Mexican 45D (the D designating a toll highway), passing through Sacramento and Nuevo Delicias before turning off onto State Highway 10, the "highway" designation being very generous. For much of the drive, through Nuevo Casa Grande and eventually into Agua Prieta, 10 is a narrow (very narrow) winding road that traverses two mountain ranges.

Along the way, we saw everything from vast expanses of desert to Monument Valley type rock formations. A crummy road it was, but really a beautiful drive.

As we got closer to the U.S. border, we were stopped twice at roadblocks, once by the Mexican military and once by the Federales. They are looking for drug runners, and while there was a delay as they searched other cars and trucks, when they got to us, there was no problem. They asked where we were the night before and where we were heading. When we told them, them smiled and sent us on our way. That was not the case when we reached the U.S. border.

A ponchy U.S. INS agent, who exhibited more attitude than his estimated 30 years of age should have allowed him harassed us to the point that we question why we even want to come back to the U.S. (we had heard of similar treatment to others, but until now we had not experienced it). We have U.S. Passports (which his computer would show we use frequently to go to Puerto Vallarta), we were driving a car with California license plates. And we had only two small suitcases. The way he treated us, you would have thought we were the long sought after kingpins of Mexico's drug cartel trying to pull a fast one by disguising ourselves as two middle age Americans on a car trip to Tucson (maybe it is the equality sticker in our back window he didn't like).

Anyway, after asking where we lived (and then questioning why we would want to live in Puerto Vallarta ... duh), he basically accused us of trying to hide something by going out of our way to enter the U.S. at Douglas, AZ as compared to the more logical entry point of Nogales. We explained we had taken a car trip to see parts of Mexico we had not yet explored including Zacatecas and Chihuahua; and considering that, Douglas WAS the logical point to enter. Still not good enough, he asked me to get out of the car and open the trunk. Then, he rifled through all of our stuff in a manner that makes the airport screeners look like packing experts. This jerk pretty much emptied our suitcases, threw stuff around, and just left it there. Apparently upset because he realized that he would not be the employee of the month for discovering even one bit of contraband let alone solve the mysteries of Mexico's drug dealers, he strutted back to the driver's side like an agitated rooster (oh, I forget, after I opened the trunk, he ordered me back into the car and to sit there), wrapping his knuckles on the side of my car, and eventually returning the passports, told us to move on. More than an hour and a half after we got to the border, we were finally into the U.S. And as we left Mr. Friendly behind, I waved and said to him with a smile on my face "Have a nice day." We were off to Tucson, he was off to find his next victim (I hope for his sake that someday Osama Bin Laden pulls up in his SUV to the frustrated little grunt at Douglas, AZ, because then, finally, he might be the employee of the month).

In Tucson, we got to the Radisson Suites in time for the last three quarters of the Super Bowl .... great game. The hotel was like a small apartment with living room, bedroom, big bathroom, and kitchenette ... very cool. After two full days of shopping in Tucson, getting the car services, some good dinners, we headed back south on Wednesday. Through heavy rain (though no snow as was forecast), we made it to the border crossing at Nogales at 9:30. Dealing with Mexican immigration is vastly different than the experience we had returning to our own country. Because by 9:31, with our visas stamped, we were on our way ... the car totally packed with tons of things we had bought in the U.S. and no one worried about that we were bring back. Ah, Mexico.

With a great toll road system from the border, we traveled on 4 lane divided highways through hundreds of miles of farmland. That night, we were going to stay in Ciudad Obragon, a fairly good size city in the state of Sonora, but we decided to continue on to the smaller town of Navajoa. Aside from a few gas stations, a small downtown, and a half dozen motels (and I think there was a Wal*Mart there), we ended up in the Best Western Hotel Del Rio. Not a 5 star, or 4 star, or even 3 star, at least they Internet, a clean room, TV, and a really good restaurant.



Thursday, off early again, same type of road, and into Mazatlan. It was Carnival when we were there, comparable to Mardi Gras, and very festive and fun. Dinner at the famous Shrimp Bucket was followed by a stroll along their Malecon where we got into the Carnival spirit. We bought ourselves a couple of masks, listened to the bands, and soaked up the local color. It is also in Mazatlan where a cabbie tried to rip us off by charging us double for his cab ride. He soon got an earful from us that we weren't tourists, but locals who live in Mexico, and that jerks like him will make people not want to come back to Mazatlan. He went away, but you know he will gouge others who aren't used to it. Likewise, our hotel there, The Inn at Mazatlan was less than stellar, the "ocean view room" providing a peak of water off in the distance over rooftops and air conditioning units, no free internet (despite their listing saying it was provided), and just in general kind of run down.

Friday morning, the final stretch home taking a detour through San Blas, a small resort town on the Pacific that we had heard a lot about. They've got a huge beach but otherwise we weren't too impressed with it when we got there (though there was a parade by some school kids all in costume that was cool). We made it back to PV mid-afternoon, in time to make a quick stop at the store, unload the car, and catch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. All total, 2530 miles from start to finish, and another Mexican adventure comes to a close.

Sage brush, sand, and cell phone towers

That was pretty much what our day looked like ... and it looked like that for a very long time. We left the warmth of our room at the Hotel Emporio well before dawn in Zacatecas. In fact, at 6:45 AM, neither the coffee shop in the hotel nor the Starbucks a half block away was even open. So, we piled into the car and headed north, and headed north, and headed north.

There is not very much between Zacatecas and Chihuahua where were are tonight. Oh sure, there a number of towns ... Fresnillo, Gomez Palacio, and Delicias (what a delicious name for a town) ... but they are mostly forgettable spots (though Delicious did look like it might have potential).

So, lacking any glamorous details of European type cities with outstanding museums and culinary specialties, I'll have to stick with the sage brush, sand, and cell phone tower description for the day.

The roads we took today, mostly toll roads costing a total of $48US, are excellent highways, some much better than the interstates you find in California. Along the way there are plenty of Pemex gas stations (about $2.80 a gallon for regular), clean restrooms (U.S. gas stations could take a lesson from Pemex), and some OK restaurants. The Mexican version of 7-11 is Oxxo and, though they don't have Slurpees or Squishees, they've got everything else. There are also a few "Pits" along the highway.

The toll booths are very modern (hello, Caltrans), and the fees vary at each one ... anywhere from about a dollar to ten dollars. They accept the Mexican version of Fastrak.

As for navigation, we rely mostly of our Mexican map books, though this year, we bought a Garmin GPS Nuvi navigator with the Mexican maps. It's pretty good, but only pretty good. It will get you where you want to go, but maybe not the fastest route.

And, for entertainment, Sirius satellite radio ... a great signal all the way from Puerto Vallarta is allowing us to catch up on Howard Stern.

In an emergency, and there haven't been any, you can call a 3-digit code on your cell phone (yes, solid cell phone coverage everywhere here), and the "Green Angels" will respond to help you, free of charge. You just have to remember what the 3-digit code is because it changes with every state you drive through.

Tonight, we are at a cool new hotel in Chihuahua called "The Encore" from Ramada. And tomorrow, we're out of here early again for the drive to Tucson, which the GPS says will take 8 hours, not counting the border crossing at Douglas, AZ. And, to top it off, we just did the Priceline thing and got a suite at the Radisson Resort in Tucson for $55 a night for three nights ... gotta love Priceline (we checked online after getting it and the absolute lowest rate was $125 with a AAA card).

Tomorrow is Superbowl Sunday, and Tucson will be filled with shopping and business type stuff .... so the blog may not return until we begin our return to PV, probably next Wednesday.

I haven't been this cold since Blue Canyon*

But, cold as we are, Zacatecas is one beautiful, cultural, historic, and inviting town. It is a town where it is best to leave your car parked and put on your walking shoes ... and walk, and walk, and walk.


After a quick breakfast across the street from the hotel (not at Starbucks ... just didn't seem right), layered in t-shirts, sweatshirts and jackets (but no scarves like the locals wear), we headed out.

Dating back to the 1500s, this was a mining town. In fact, the main mine here, Mina el Eden was active until the mid-1970s. After it closed, it was converted into a tourism spot. Donning our hard hats, then taking a train about 400 meters underground, you get a real feel of what a huge mining operation it was. After the train stops, the rest of the underground excursion is up to you ... wandering through a maze of underground tunnels, the walls still lined with beautiful quartz, silver, and copper. The people who worked in the mines, from young children to people in their 80s went through hell, carrying silver laden rocks in baskets to the surface above.

The minerals that came from underneath this city provided for the many riches on its surface. There are many large parks that line the boulevards. Fountains that look like miniature versions of the Fountains of the Bellagio in Vegas add to the ambiance. There are several Gaudi-esque cathedrals here (including the main cathedral across from our hotel). And the Francisco Goitia Art Museum currently has an exhibit of one of the finest contemporary artists we have ever seen, Armando Belmontes.

It's not just what you see, but what you experience. Zacatecas, unlike Puerto Vallarta and other Mexican cities we have visited, is extremely clean. You don't see dirt, you don't see garbage, you don't see dilapidated streets and busted sidewalks. It is extremely European. At various times today, I thought I could be in Paris, Barcelona, New Orleans, San Francisco.

And the class of people here are different as well. Yes, there are the laborers, but this is the capitol and financial center of the state of Zacatecas, so there is a certain sophistication that you don't find in other towns. And, while the few here who do work in the tourist industry do speak English, most people here do not. You need to speak Spanish here (unless you want to just hang in the hotel).

As for restaurants, this isn't Puerto Vallarta. We found the choices to be somewhat slim. On top of that, most restaurants are not heated. Last night, we went to Garufa, probably the top restuarant in town. The place was empty and it must have been 45 degrees inside. We asked if they had heat, but they said no ... so we sat near the kitchen where the TV was blaring and workers were waiting to shut the place down (at 8:00). The food was good, but when the room it's served in is only a dozen degree above freezing, it doesn't stay tasty very long.

So, back in the room after a long day, we've decided that tomorrow, we will try to make it to Chihuahua. It is mostly toll roads (4 lane divided highways between here and there), but even with that, it will likely be a ten hour day on the road. We had thought originally about going to Durango or Gomez Palacio, but the people here in Zacatecas have said there isn't much there ... and it was confirmed by our AAA tour book.

So probably a short blog tomorrow. Until then .. hasta luego amigos.

* For those unfamiliar with Sacramento, Blue Canyon is the spot in the high Sierra where TV stations would send their reporters to do live shots when it was snowing. I, along with my colleagues from Sacramento and San Francisco, spent many a freezing, wet, snowy, blizzardy, night along Interstate 80 at Blue Canyon, just so viewers at home could say, "Damn, glad I'm not there."

Zacatecas or bust

We're off again on another Mexican adventure. Leaving a rain soaked Puerto Vallarta at 7:00 this morning, our destination ... Zacatecas.

After a four hour drive to Guadalajara, we headed northeast on Mexican Highway 54. The scenery changed immediately. Crossing several mountain ranges (on a two lane road, not unlike CA Highway 29 that goes from St. Helena to Middletown), there were canyons (not quite like The Grand Canyon but pretty impressive), waterfalls, and some decidedly not touristy Mexican towns ... clean, and with no Americanos for a change.

The highway was a bit worse for the wear ... some pretty major pot holes. And, in every small town, there were lots of "topes," the Mexican version of speed bumps. The main difference is that here, unlike the U.S., they don't warn you that they are coming up and they often don't paint them a different color. Murder on the shocks. So, it is best to get behind a fast driving Mexican who knows the road and who will go 65 to 70 mph along the stretches where there are no topes, and from experience, knows when to slow down where the topes suddenly and unexpectedly rise from the roadway.

Pelted by a few pretty substantial rainstorms, the highway slowly began climbing and the temperature began dropping. And, by 4:30, we had made it to Zacatecas, elevation 8020 feet and temperature 40 when we arrived.

If you were suddenly dropped into this city of about 100,000 and were asked "What country do you think you are in," you'd probably reply Italy or Spain. An old silver mining town, the Spanish influences are dominant. We're staying in the Hotel Emporio, a classic old style hotel in the heart of the city, where you park your car and walk everywhere. We've already scoped out tonight's restaurant ... more on that tomorrow.

We will be here at least two nights, perhaps three. That's the cool thing ... we've got no schedule. Tomorrow, after picking up pastries as a nearby bakery, and grabbing a coffee at Starbucks (yes, they're everywhere, even here), we plan on exploring. More pictures and stories to follow. Stay cool. Tonight, we are.